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On February 7, 2019– in a devastating blow to global surveillance advertising, Germany’s antitrust arm, the Federal Cartel Office, ruled that Facebook’s tying of its data collection practices to usage of its services was unlawful. In the public announcement of this ruling, the FCO president Andreas Mundt said: “Facebook will no longer be allowed to force its users to agree to the practically unrestricted collection and assigning of non-Facebook data to their Facebook user accounts.”
Not surprisingly, Facebook immediately blogged that it would file an appeal of this potentially ruinous ruling. Though not ultimately based on the lack of “freely given” consent under GDPR, the ruling may ultimately have the same impact as if it were. Interestingly, Facebook has previously shouted from the roofs that it was compliant with GDPR but never warned of a potential antitrust exposure – including in its most recent Annual Report.
Other countries may also choose to use the antitrust route rather than wait on the pending Complaints filed against Facebook. None of this should come as any surprise to Facebook given its own CEO saw the company as a “social utility” well over a decade ago.
Interestingly, the FCO ruling considers the harm derived from Facebook’s data collection practices as the user’s “loss of control” rather than any specific pecuniary harm. If affirmed, this novel antitrust ruling could be a watershed in surveillance advertising sufficient to crack the existing digital ad ecosystem and allowing for new business models to finally take hold.


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Gov. Charlie Baker said it is crucial for the state “to be aggressive” in tracking down welfare fraud after a Worcester convenience store owner was accused of operating a $3.6 million food stamp fraud scheme.
“Each time someone who is gaming the system and stealing from everyone here in the commonwealth gets arrested, that’s a good thing,” Baker said yesterday. “From my point of view, we need to be aggressive at making sure because the credibility of the commonwealth is at stake.”
The Herald reported yesterday that Vida Ofori Causey, 45, was arrested in connection with a $3.6 million food stamp fraud scheme. The Worcester woman faces charges including one count of conspiracy to commit SNAP benefits fraud, one count of SNAP fraud and one count of money laundering in what federal prosecutors called a four-year fraud scheme.
The governor said the state has a number of ways it ferrets out cases of welfare fraud, including holding meetings with retailers to talk about what they are seeing.
“We have secret shoppers and a whole series of mechanisms we use to make sure people aren’t gaming the system,” said Baker.
He pointed to a massive raid in Lawrence in June that resulted in six arrests at four markets after a three-year investigation into an estimated $2.5 million in food stamp fraud. That raid was carried out by Lawrence police, state police and the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General under the direction of the Essex County District Attorney after investigators noticed that EBT sales were dramatically higher than the projected sales inside the small stores.
In the Worcester case, Causey owned J&W Aseda Plaza, a convenience store, and purchased SNAP benefits instead of exchanging them for food from April 2010 to October 2014, prosecutors said. Causey is accused of buying the benefits at 50 cents for every SNAP dollar.
The USDA then electronically deposited the SNAP benefits into Causey’s bank account, according to authorities.
She defrauded the USDA of approximately $3.6 million in SNAP funds, authorities said.

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When most people hear the phrase "Four Corners," they probably think of the famous Southwestern landmark where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. In Tucson, however, Four Corners has taken on a whole new meaning, thanks to the work of the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA).
The arts organization has teamed up with local businesses, artists and restaurants to present the Four Corners Festival, a celebration of one of the city's burgeoning arts and shopping districts.
The four corners in question are home to La Encantada Shopping Center (northwest corner), the Plaza Colonial (southwest corner), Gallery Row (northeast corner) and the Paloma Village (southeast corner). All four corners are home to an eclectic mix of boutiques and art galleries.
Local art is the main attraction at Tucson's Four Corners Festival, which celebrates one of the city's most eclectic art and shopping districts — Photo courtesy of Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance
The festival, now in its third year, will take place on Saturday, Nov. 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 16, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free to the public.
This year, the Four Corners Festival will be adding a new item to its schedule: a juried art exhibit. There will also be live music, performance art, culinary arts demonstrations, film screenings, public art, food tastings from local restaurants and wine tastings.
Artists will be stationed on all four corners of the intersection throughout the weekend. At La Encantada Shopping Center, more than 40 fine artists will be on hand to display their work and chat with local art enthusiasts. While guests enjoy the art, they can also take in performances by strolling musicians and get deals on merchant specials.
As part of the event, La Encantada restaurants will be offering happy hour specials for festival-goers. Some of the restaurants at the Spanish-inspired shopping center include Blanco Tacos + Tequila, RA Sushi Bar, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and North.
Across the street at the Plaza Colonial, there will be folkloric dancing, artisan demonstrations and a diverse selection of handmade textiles and craft goods available for purchase.
Paloma Village will present culinary demonstrations, fine art demonstrations and deals on locally made goods. Over at Gallery Row, there will be live art demonstrations, public art displays and wine tastings.
SAACA hopes the festival will shine a light on an overlooked section of Tucson's art community. The Four Corners district has long been a destination for upscale shopping and locally made goods, but the neighborhood is only now being recognized as home to one of the liveliest cross sections of Tucson art and culture.


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During times of great upheaval, not only are great new companies started, but they can also be sold.
Checkout my IronCEO RapidFire Interview with Samuel Jonas, Founder, CEO of Green Piranhas Inc. dba Snap2Save. Snap2Save is a Health and Wellness platform that incents consumers to make the right purchases to improve their health and health outcomes.
Sam compares the business climate during the current Corona pandemic to the financial crisis in the last decade. In 2008 Payquick, a remittance technology company that Sam was a board member and investor, was sold to Citibank.
"There is an interesting correlation between then and now. The 2008 financial crisis drove a need for strong compliance technology... COVID has only accelerated the need for healthy eating as a dimension of community health as a means to control diabetes and obesity, which are leading co-morbidities for COVID."
Each week, in the IronCEO RapidFire, I will try to find out what makes the entrepreneur tick and try to get you to sit in their seat. 01:56


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NGK-sponsored M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia reignited their FIA World Rally Championship defence with victory at the Dayinsure Wales Rally GB.
National Autoparts, one of the UK’s leading UK clutch and brake specialists, says it has achieved the latest ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems Standard.
Schaeffler will be amongst the exhibitors at Mechanex Sandown Park, where its focus will be on INA products, technology, tools and training. A team of enthusiastic REPXPERTs will be manning the stand during the two-day event, held on Tuesday and Wednesday November 6-7, between 10am and 4pm where they will share their knowledge of the
From September 20 – 27, Valeo is taking part in the 67th IAA International Motor Show for commercial vehicles (IAA CV 2018) in Hanover. The Group is presenting its latest technological innovations at the epicenter of the revolutions disrupting the world of transportation. The technology transforming the automotive industry is also a game changer for
Trico is showcasing its redesigned packaging of its Force, Flex, Neoform and Ice ranges at Automwchanika Frankfurt this week.
Mike Whittington has joined Polestar to lead the company’s Global Sales Operations. He joins Polestar as the company begins to shape its retail operations, and follows the recent announcement of the new retail lab which is developing concepts for the forthcoming Polestar Space retail environments. “We are entering an important phase in the launch of
Schrader Academy has launched its new training website: www.Schrader-Academy.com. Having been in the pipeline for the past few months, the new site hosts updated TPMS E-Training Course, as well as giving a smoother, more intuitive user experience. With a fresh look and feel, the new site gives users the opportunity to easily navigate through. Delivering
Joe Duffy Group have acquired Motorpark Athlone, following competition authority approval. The business will be rebranded Joe Duffy Ford Athlone. Commenting on the acquisition, Gavin Hydes, CEO at the Joe Duffy Group, said: “I am delighted to confirm that we have acquired Motorpark Athlone. This acquisition, which will be our second Ford passenger car &
Energia, one of Ireland’s leading business energy companies, will supply power to Advance Pitstop, serving its 30 branches and over 200 staff across Ireland. The supply agreement is expected to be worth approximately €300,000 per annum to Energia. Under the agreement, Energia will supply Advance Pitstop with an expected annual consumption of 4.5 GWh.
This years Automechanika Frankfurt, September 11-15, will feature the first Truck Competence Symposium with a high-quality panel and a training workshop for commercial vehicle professionals. Approximately 1,000 companies will be showcasing its products and solutions for commercial vehicles at Automechanika Frankfurt, and the familiar ‘Truck Competence’ pictogram will once again identify the stands offering items


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Toronto, ON, August 17, 2020 – ClickDuo, Inc. (https://clickduo.com/), A new Toronto based startup, is pleased to announce they have recently launched their Fan of Local initiative. The purpose of the program is to create online storefront ready websites powered by another Canadian company, Shopify and list them on the Fan of Local directory service which is a small and local business only directory service geared towards linking local business owners with customers in their area.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, more businesses are becoming reliant on online sales, but many business owners have not ever explored their online options which has lead to large drops in revenue and in some cases the loss of their business entirely.
For businesses that are considering expanding their offerings into the online world but don’t know-how, are worried about the expense and technical know-how are relying more on website developers to help them continue their operations.
Who is ClickDuo?
ClickDuo Inc. is a Toronto based website development company currently partnered with the City of Toronto’s Digital Mainstreet program and Shopify to create free e-commerce websites for small and local businesses. ClickDuo has also launched Fan of Local, a directory service for small and local business owners as well as customers looking to support the local companies in their neighbourhoods.
ClickDuo free websites for local business
ClickDuo Inc. is proud to offer free websites for small and local business owners. Their team of talented web developers are ready to assist those that are eager to get online by removing the barrier to entry.
ClickDuo Inc. is one of Canada’s top web-development shops for assisting small to medium-sized local businesses find solutions for becoming e-commerce capable. More information on ClickDuo Inc. is available by visiting the firm’s website at www.clickduo.com.


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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – San Diego-based HD Supply Facilities Maintenance, a national distributor of maintenance and repair products, has opened its first Alabama operation at Shelby Commerce Park in Calera. The 350,000 square-foot distribution center has 50 employees with plans to add more as it boosts its presence here.
The new warehouse is the 43rd in the HD Supply’s North American operations.
“We are excited to open our Birmingham-area distribution center, an important addition to our network of (distribution centers) throughout the United States and Canada,” Anesa Chaibi, chief executive of HD Supply Facilities Maintenance, said in a statement. “This new distribution center allows us to continue to improve our local support for customers in the Southeast, including Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle.”
Having a major supplier of maintenance, repair and operations products to owners and managers of multifamily, hospitality, educational and commercial properties as well as healthcare providers and municipal and government facilities is a boost to Shelby Commerce Park and the Birmingham metro’s upper-end distribution center market, according to Ogden Deaton, the Graham & Co. broker who handled the deal.
“This deal is significant because it is a very large new user to our market and it helps stabilize the class-A bulk market,” Deaton said. “Activity has really picked up this year and the warehouse market is definitely moving in a positive direction.”


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The dream ended quietly for the once scorching Web site known as The Spot. Still nursing New Year's Eve hangovers, several twentysomethings dressed in shorts and flip-flops held a somber party at The Spot's hip offices in Marina del Rey, California, drinking beer and waiting for one last user to tap into their server. Huddled around a terminal, the creators of the Web's sexiest serial soap opera managed a final, joyless cheer before unplugging their computers for good.
Meanwhile in Manhattan, a group of slightly older editors cleaned out their desks in a more conventional fashion at the offices of The New York Times Company. Most of them walked around in a state of shock: The Times' board of directors had just voted to shut down the newspaper's foundering Web division, after a loss of $30 million in less than a year. "We thought we were surfing the rising wave of the Web," says Steve Rago, whose job as vice president for strategy and new business development at The Times' New Media division had just been deleted. "And then it crashed over our heads."
Whether it's California start-ups or elite East Coast media institutions, an extraordinary series of bankruptcies and layoffs is reverberating through the once burgeoning online world‰and making waves in the economy as a whole. A year ago the Internet was filled with promise and hype. The free-for-all frenzy of the summer of 1996 led the more idealistic of the young Web-site creators to label themselves "The Webstock Generation," dedicated to creating a "Webotopia" online. The euphoria spread to even the most traditional media companies, who saw in the Web the genesis of a new medium-and a potential new profit stream-for the 21st century.
Now reality has set in and the events of recent weeks are carrying a different title, drawn from the surfing metaphors long popular among Internet users-"The Great Web Wipeout." Few see the survival of free, commercially sponsored, original content on the Web. Says Mark Stahlman, co-founder of the New York New Media Association: "It's nothing less than the death of the Web."
Across the Internet, publishers of the largest Web sites are drowning in a sea of red ink. Beginning in 1995, the Web lured mainstream media companies who poured in big money-despite the lack of a sound business model. Young entrepreneurs and giddy investors blindly flocked to the Web in hopes of making paper fortunes overnight. Few listened to words of warning, including those of Time Inc. President Don Logan, who in late 1995 nicknamed the Web "The Black Hole." Today few can afford not to listen. Even the true believers, like those working at the hyperhip HotWired Web site, are now chastened. When pressed, even HotWired's founder Louis Rossetto says, "It'll take time."
For now, anyone in the world of the Web will have to scramble. Advertising and media analysts predict that by July more than 300 out of an estimated 500 commercial providers of original content on the Web-including virtually all of the large, high-profile sites-will disappear or radically scale back their operations. They leave behind an expanding group of intensely competitive index services-those constructing searchable catalogues of all material on the Web-and more than 30 million personal, noncommercial home pages, which continue to spread like kudzu. Also left behind: what computer columnist Stewart Alsop calls "the legacy of runaway hype, fed by the so-called visionaries of new media."
What caused the shakeout? There's general agreement among Web analysts that two factors drove the downward business spiral of original-content providers. First was their general inability to add bandwidth: the digital "pipes" carrying data to and from their computers had become sclerotic arteries, so clogged that a growing number of new Internet users couldn't reach them. According to an October 1996 survey by AT&T, 67% of sites were effectively "off the Net" for at least one hour per day because of overload.
New users then migrated to the vast range of personal sites, each of which may draw no more than a few thousand hits per week. Even the experts aren't trying anymore. Andrew Seybold, publisher of a respected computer industry newsletter, says he no longer bothers with high-volume commercial sites such as Starwave. "I just bag it and end up looking at pictures of my sister's kids on her home page."
Clogged pipes inevitably led to the second factor, a plunge in advertising revenues. Advertisers began challenging how many people actually reached their ad "banners''-and questioning the effectiveness of online advertising itself. Cutthroat competition from those aggressive Wal Marts of Web advertising, index services such as Alta Vista and Infoseek, sent advertising rates reeling. The prices charged for every thousand page views delivered-or CPMs-dropped from $15 per thousand at the beginning of 1996 to less than a dollar per thousand by the end of the year. As Halsey Minor, president and CEO of the C|net Web site, says: "The Yahoos of this world drove the price points into the basement."
The playing field shifted further toward the index sites last September when the research firm Dataquest released a report titled "Redefining Internet Usage." Widely accepted by advertisers as the definitive study of Web traffic patterns, Dataquest's report uncovered what one Web-site owner calls "the dirty little secrets of the Web." It proved, for example, that the widely used Nielsen-I/Pro usage reports, which purported to measure the time users spent on a Web page, gave false readings. "They claimed people spent five minutes viewing a page with an ad," says Santa Monica, California, advertising executive Jim Smith, "when in fact they were spending five minutes waiting for it to appear on their screens."
That revelation was followed in October by a more startling statistic: a close examination of the pages viewed by Web users showed only 10% of the hits were attributable to individuals. The remaining 90% were generated by "spiders" and "crawlers"-the index services' software engines that travel the Net cataloguing new sites. Competition among indexers had ratcheted up the pace of updates: spiders and crawlers appeared to be hitting Web sites hourly-even minute by minute-in a race to be the most up-to-date. The findings indicate that in a world of nearly infinite choices, information about the choices is more valuable than the choices themselves. Says Wired magazine Executive Editor Kevin Kelly: "Face it, TV Guide makes more money than the three major TV networks combined."
The final blow came at the end of the year with the publication of a study ominously titled "Chronic Web Congestion,'' put out by Hans-Werner Braun of the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Citing infrastructure problems extending into the foreseeable future, the study argued that the Web slowdown was not due to temporary growing pains-it was all but permanent. That highly publicized report gave substance to Web developers' worst fears. Many had spent 1996 determined to ride out the storm until they could begin to make money. The report gave many executives the nudge they needed to finally bail out. "The truth is," says Braun, "there's no end in sight."
To be sure, some nonindex services will survive this crisis. Those offering name-brand cheesecake-particularly Playboy and Penthouse-can charge high monthly subscription fees at the front door. Revenue from subscriptions, added to advertising revenue, pumps big cash into their operations, which allows them to splurge on bandwidth and keep up with climbing demand. Playboy, for example, expects to sign up more than 5 million Web subscribers worldwide by June 1997, with each one paying $12.95 per month for access to an online collection of interviews, fashion guides and, of course, full-screen photos of naked women.
The death of commercial publishing on the Web doesn't mean the death of the Web itself, of course. Millions of users continue to pour onto the Internet, using E-mail, building home pages, and surfing those of their neighbors. By the end of 1997, analysts expect some 40 million people in North America will use the Net at least once each week; in the same period, worldwide users may approach 80 million.
For the most part, they'll do what they've always done: communicate with friends, meet people from around the world and create a culture now approaching its fourth decade of existence. Far from dismayed by the demise of commercial Web sites, Net commentator Howard Rheingold, author of the book The Virtual Community, says, "Publishers never understood that people didn't want their content-they wanted a global jam session."
That's no solace to the out-of-work Web editors at companies like The New York Times. Many of them have little hope of returning to their careers in "old media" now that their new careers have been stranded ashore by The Web Wipeout's receding wave. And many an executive will have a difficult time passing the blame for these big-buck boondogglesas media companies return to their tried-and-true core businesses, which proved to be the wiser investment after all. "We learned a thing or two," said Time Warner Chairman Gerald Levin, only half-jokingly, at a recent raucous shareholder meeting. "Gangsta rap-yes. World Wide Web-no."
Meanwhile, the bitterness of The Webstock Generation who built places like The Spot is tinged with hope for the future. Many of them plan to returnto the colleges and graduate schools they only recently fled in pursuit of their Net dreams. By the time most of them finally graduate, the 21st century will have arrived-and maybe then the world will be ready to answer their calls for a media revolution.


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Union County, Georgia is about to have an influx of investment thanks to a recent announcement by Gov. Nathan Deal’s office.
Advanced Digital Cable Inc. (ADC), a leading manufacturer of electronic and communication wire and cable, will create 65 jobs and invest $15 million in a Union County facility expansion. The new jobs will include positions in manufacturing and operations.
“This expansion will enable ADC to better serve our customer base by giving us the capacity to increase the volume of our current product lines made in Blairsville,” said Steve Payne, president of ADC. “ADC expects to add 65 employees with this expansion.”
Georgia has been named the No. 1 state for business by Site Selector Magazine four years in a row, while CNBC named Georgia the No. 2 state for business in the U.S. this month.


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NEW LOGO BATTLE EVERY TUESDAY!
Where any sports logo can battle it out.
Pick your battle and see results!
Battle #1 NHL Central Division Alternate
Battle #2 NBA Northwest Conference
Battle #3 College Sword
Battle #4 **New** Rams Logo Battle
The NBA has found a new way to generate more revenue.
This 2017 – 2018 season will be the first year of a three-year trial as NBA teams are teaming up with different businesses and will feature the company’s logo on its team jerseys. There are a total of 16 teams partnered with companies and the team with the biggest payday coming to the Golden State Warriors.
It was reported that the deal is worth double the amount of the Cleveland Cavalier’s deal with Goodyear.
Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten will pay Golden State $20 million annually that will total up to $60 million for three years. Rakuten will reap more benefits than just having its logo on the reigning NBA Champions jerseys. Rakuten will now be the official e-commerce partner for the Warriors as well as an affiliate marketing partner, in addition to Golden State renaming its practice facility to Rakuten Performance Center.
The Los Angeles Lakers is the latest team to land a deal and it’s the second largest deal in the league. San Francisco based mobile shopping app Wish, reached out to the Lakers and the two agreed on a deal where the Lakers will make around $12 million to $14 million a year for three years. It was reported that the CEO Jeanie Buss of the Lakers never heard of the company before making this deal.
These are the incredible past sports logo battles with the results of you fans. Each sports logo battle was an open battle for a one month period. We have had several great battles and some that might surprise you with the outcome. Check out all the sports logo battles!
Sports Logo History


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Editor’s note: This story is paired with “Some Americans go hungry, while others waste food”
Hruska’s Kolaches in Provo hardly ever deals with unsold food at the popular bakery, but co-owner and manager Devin Emery would love to help the community by donating any leftovers.
The problem is, when Emery first opened her business over three years ago, food code laws stated the type of leftover food Hruska’s Kolaches has cannot be taken by food shelters.
“Because of food code laws, our product isn’t something a shelter can take,” Emery said. “In other words, since we already have an ‘already made’ product, they won’t accept it.”
The government has not clarified any changes or regulations to Emery since then.
An estimated 30-40 percent of all food in the U.S. is wasted, so it may be surprising that one in eight Americans still find it challenging to put a meal on the table every day. While food waste comes from many different sources, a substantial amount can be attributed to restaurants, who on average only donate 1.4 percent of their unused food.
However, according to Sarah Bateman, Natural Resources Stewardship Committee Chair, City of Orem, the underlying problem of food waste from restaurants is not that no one wants to donate. It is the confusion around the donation process.
“If produce is whole or uncut, you can easily and legally donate it to food banks and shelters,” Bateman said. “Once you cut into it or prepare it in any way, the rules change. Different countries, states, and counties might take slightly different approaches to food safety, preparation and waste.”
Many restaurants are concerned about liabilities they may face when donating food. Emery said she is unaware if the rules have changed since she first checked. She also said anything that does go unsold is sent home with employees so nothing is thrown away.
One correlation between restaurants and food donations is the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996 (BEGSA). To encourage more businesses to donate leftover food, this act protects those donating from civil or criminal liability except in the case of “gross negligence or intentional misconduct.”
The act covers not only whole foods but prepared foods as well. Austin Green, manager of J. Dawgs in Provo, said his restaurant donates all leftover food to the local Food & Care Coalition. Green said he was fully aware of the act.
BEGSA has been around for over 20 years, but many restaurants are unaware of it and the protection is gives them. Emery said she was unaware of the act.
Although BEGSA is a federal act, regulations about food donations still differ from state to state. While ultimately the BEGSA would overrule a charge given to someone donating food, the case would need to be taken to the federal level and may cost more time and money than wanted or even possible.
However, when donating any whole or packaged foods that can be safely kept at room temperature, restaurants should have no reason to worry about liability except in cases of extreme negligence.
The line between whole food and prepared food is where things become more complex. The National Restaurant Association’s food donation guide states “the key to safe donation of prepared food is the proper management of the food’s temperature, handling and storage times.”
This means meals served warm must stay warm and cold foods such as produce must stay cold from the time they are prepared to the time they are served at the donation facility, including during transportation.
If restaurants are diligent about this process, they should have no issue donating food even under Utah regulations.
It is not only restaurants that fear liabilities, but the receivers of donations as well. Heidi Cannella, communications manager at Utah Food Bank, said they are unable to receive prepared food as donations because of liability and distribution logistics concerns. However, Utah Food Bank has created Grocery Rescue, a program to help businesses donate leftover whole foods before they go bad.
According to Cannella, refrigerated trucks owned and operated by Utah Food Bank travel to businesses all over the state six days a week to pick up food that would otherwise be thrown away. Those donations are then distributed within 24 hours to citizens who need them most.
“Last year, this program’s partnerships with 225 retailers across the state provided just under 14 million pounds of food for Utahns facing hunger,” Cannella said.
Programs like Grocery Rescue are one way to address the problem of food waste. For restaurants and small businesses who are unable to create such a program, donations of prepared food is still an option. It just takes some planning and thought.
“It’s tricky,” Sarah Bateman said, “but not impossible.”
All businesses should check with their local government to see exactly what rules and regulations apply to their particular situation.
Although Utah Food Bank is unable to accept leftover prepared food, Canella said there are many other establishments that restaurants should look into if they want to donate, such as smaller food banks and shelters.
“Typically, a soup kitchen or shelter that primarily serves the homeless population would be most likely to accept such donations,” Canella said.
Brent Crane, president and CEO of Food & Care Coalition, is very grateful for donations from local businesses around Utah county.
“We have too many businesses to count that donate on a regular basis,” Crane said. “We probably have over 800 unique donors who donate food in various forms — prepared, canned, fresh, etc.”
Food & Care provides over 100,000 meals annually while spending under $10,000 annually on prepared foods. Crane said this would not be possible without donations from these businesses. Crane said he has not seen any major problems arise from businesses trying to donate food, prepared or otherwise. He said they are protected under BEGSA and also receive tax-deduction benefits from donating.
Canella said the best thing for restaurants and businesses interested in donating leftover food to do is stay informed.
“We recommend contacting a partner agency near your location to find out if they are able to accept the food, and what their processes are,” she said. “It can all go a long way in helping us fight hunger statewide.”


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When you look at the explosive growth in purchases made on smartphones, you can see why the retail industry sees so much opportunity. This year, for example, mobile sales are forecast to grow 43.2 percent to $115.92 billion, according to research firm eMarketer.
But a new report offers evidence that retailers who are aiming to ride the mobile wave will likely face some tough challenges in capturing shoppers’ attention.. . . more


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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Krispy Kreme is helping fans melt away from 2020 and into a delicious and creamy world by introducing an ALL-NEW glaze flavor: caramel.
Combining the melt-in-your-mouth experience of an Original Glazed® Doughnut with silky, decadent caramel, Krispy Kreme’s new Caramel Glazed Doughnut and Salted Double Caramel Crunch Doughnut are available starting Nov. 9 for a limited-time at participating shops across the U.S.
Krispy Kreme has transformed its iconic glaze waterfall with caramel and the results are glorious:
- Caramel Glazed Doughnut: the classic Original Glazed® Doughnut covered in rich caramel glaze.
- Salted Double Caramel Crunch Doughnut: the Caramel Glazed Doughnut dipped in rich caramel icing, and sprinkled with salted crunch topping.
Caramel is the latest in a lineup of innovative glaze flavors Krispy Kreme has introduced in recent years, including chocolate, lemon, blueberry, strawberry and coffee.
“There are a lot of caramel lovers out there and if you’re one of them, this doughnut is going to blow your mind,” said Dave Skena, Chief Marketing Officer of Krispy Kreme. “It’s incredibly delicious and you’re going to need to take a moment for yourself and just be one with caramel awesomeness. It’s been a year, to say the least. You’ve earned it.”
Share your caramel glaze moment with Krispy Kreme’s Caramel Glazed Doughnuts by using #KrispyKreme and tagging @krispykreme. For more information about the new Krispy Kreme Caramel Glazed Doughnuts, please visit www.krispykreme.com/promos/caramelglaze.
About Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation
Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation is a global retailer of premium-quality sweet treats, including its signature Original Glazed® doughnut. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., the company has offered the highest-quality doughnuts and great-tasting coffee since it was founded in 1937. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is proud of its Fundraising program, which for decades has helped non-profit organizations raise millions of dollars in needed funds. Krispy Kreme doughnuts can be found in approximately 12,000 grocery, convenience and mass merchant stores in the U.S. The Company has nearly 1,400 retail shops in 33 countries. Connect with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts at www.KrispyKreme.com, or on one of its many social media channels, including www.Facebook.com/KrispyKreme, and www.Twitter.com/KrispyKreme.


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The Diesel Technology Forum discusses the clean diesel journey - With a higher degree of certainty than ever before, we can say that diesel is a clean technology. Diesel is a technology of continuous improvement and that goes for the fuel as well. Ultra-low sulfur
At least 80% of 2025 sales will have an internal combustion engine. A report from Automotive News quotes Klaus Frohlich, BMW Group board member for development, declaring that the diesel engine still has at least 20 more years, and the gasoline engine, at least 30
Engine Technology International discusses the future of boosting. Using Turbochargers or superchargers started out as an exotic performance technology, now, turbocharging has become the default position for all diesel engines and the majority of today’s gasoline
Improving global air quality by accelerating the introduction of cleaner fuels and the newest generations of diesel technology. Tremendous progress has been made in virtually eliminating criteria emissions from today’s generation of diesel engines.
The Sportage is Kia's global and European best-selling model and here it represents a quarter of the brand's sales. The updated version gets a new front-end design for sharper looks and an EcoDynamics+ power train cuts Co2 emissions by 4pc under the new, strict WLTP
ACEA reported over the first eight months of 2018, passenger car registrations across the EU grew by 6.1% to reach 10.8 million units, boosted by a strong summer performance. Spain (+14.6%), France (+8.9%) and Germany (+6.4%) have posted strong results, with a
From September 2018, WLTP now applies to all new car registrations. European measures were introduced to allow a limited number of end-of-series, unsold cars, that were approved under the old test (NEDC), to be sold until September 2019.
Message from Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum – Diesel won’t lose its place as the dominant fuel for commercial vehicles, even as alternative fuels and powertrain options become more viable. “Diesel is the gold standard,


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While artists like Marks may maintain that their handmade dolls share little in common with reborns sold by larger companies, the latter also attract those interested in their potential therapeutic benefits. “These [clients] include many mothers who are grieving the loss of a pregnancy or baby, as well as patients suffering the effects of Alzheimer’s, dementia, and anxiety,” Kate Quaid, director of digital marketing at Paradise Galleries, told the Cut.
While one could make the argument that many well-made dolls resemble actual babies, reborns are so convincing, they can sometimes pass as a real newborn. In May 2016, a New Hampshire police officer smashed a car window to rescue what he thought was an abandoned newborn. “I went to put my finger in its mouth and it was all resistance,” the officer told ABC News of the reborn doll, which was draped with a blanket and had a bottle of milk. “[But] It felt like a baby. It looked like a baby.’”
Browse our collection ofBrowse our collection of reborn doll clothes , including our popular Reborn Doll girls and customer-favorite Reborn Doll boys ! Cheap reborn doll for sale or home reborn doll.


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Edmonton Journal | July 19, 2010
When EU talks trade, it receives more than it gives
Canada must be wary during CETA negotiations
By Peter Clark
Canadian and EU negotiators were meeting again last week in Brussels for the fourth round of negotiations on the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan is also wrapping up a European tour to promote Canada-EU relations to "highlight Canada’s competitive advantages to European partners."
Will the CETA negotiations be deeper and broader than NAFTA? CETA is Canada’s biggest bilateral initiative since NAFTA. But how much exuberance is warranted?
The reality is that Canada wants CETA more than Europe needs it. Europe recognizes this and will use its leverage to extract a high price. Canada must ensure the selling of this deal is more than negotiator’s "puffing" and that Canadians will get what they are paying for.
Concluding CETA is important — particularly to multinationals already inside the EU regulatory system through investments or partnering.
For example, the United States is concerned about small and medium enterprises not being able to cope with the administrative and compliance burdens imposed by EU regulatory schemes like REACH — the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances. U.S. trade officials consider that inability to cope with the regulations will encourage greater investment and production in Europe. Canada has similar concerns.
REACH regulates chemicals on their own, in preparations and in products, and impacts virtually all industrial sectors. The joint Canada-EU scoping report, which identified potential benefits from increased trade and economic integration, says REACH will undoubtedly impact trade in ways which cannot easily be anticipated.
The EU has a very clear shopping list. But what will Canada get? Is everything really on the table as advertised? Canada needs to balance the cheerleading from advocates for CETA with comprehensive, hard-nosed analysis. Canada needs to take off the blinders to the problems and barriers which will not be addressed by CETA and recognize that blind faith and hope are not sound negotiating strategies.
Nor does CETA live up to advance billing when it comes to agriculture. Canadian farmers and ranchers hope for big gains from CETA. But Europe is not the biggest open market for farm products. It is the biggest rigged market. And the main rigging mechanism is the Common Agricultural Policy known as the CAP.
Europe imports only 2.7 per cent of its consumption of dairy products, and 4.9 per cent of its meat consumption. The worst example is pork, where the EU imports less than one per cent of what it consumes. Action on export subsidies must wait for a Doha (WTO) result which may never happen. Free trade is not only about removing tariffs. It must also discipline and remove production and trade distorting subsidies which stimulate production and exports while inhibiting imports.
Canadian beef and pork farmers and ranchers have been hard hit by U.S. country-of-origin rules (COOL). They need to export more to Europe and Europe has lots of room to do this.
In addition to miserly market access for beef and pork, the EU is actively considering its own country-of-origin labelling laws. Such regulation which plays on consumer fears will be the trade nightmare of the next decade.
"Everything is on the table" has become a mantra in CETA. But this is never the case in any negotiation. Negotiations are about exclusions. CETA is no exception.
EU officials claim that everything is on the table in agriculture and that their WTO positions are either not relevant, or will not preclude WTO-plus concessions for Canada. This is not true. EU deputy chief negotiator Philipp Dupuis confirmed in Ottawa on April 26 that domestic support under the CAP was not on the table.
Canada’s chief negotiator, Steve Verheul, told a meeting of trade experts in Ottawa on June 7 that there had been no discussion of agricultural or fisheries subsidies.
Canadian farmers are accustomed to rather meagre risk-management support. The EU standard is risk elimination. The deep-pockets EU approach will not change any time soon.
How deep are their pockets?
According to Solidarite, EU CAP spending based on WTO rules was 85 billion euros (about $115 billion Cdn) in 2006 — some 20 billion euros more than was notified to the WTO.
Canadian negotiators need to bear in mind how pervasive, changeable and intrusive European regulation is — Saskatoon berries may not be imported into Europe. European parliamentarians want to impose animal welfare and environmental rules on FTA partners. The so-called precautionary principle is a cornerstone of European regulation. The agreement is only as good as the ability to enforce it.
Canadian politicians must instruct their negotiators not to rush into a deal just for the sake of being able to claim an apparent victory. Canada needs to lose the blinders and ensure we do not give more than we get.
Peter Clark is an international trade consultant and president of Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates, Limited in Ottawa. The above is an excerpt from his submission to the Commons and Senate Trade and Agriculture Committees.


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To commemorate the MLB Opening Week, T-Mobile today announced that it’s going to give all customers a free year subscription of MLB.TV Premium and MLB.com At Bat Premium as part of its T-Mobile Tuesdays customer appreciation program. This gift has a $112.99 value and is obviously very useful for those who diligently follow MLB games.
Read full post →T-Mobile Customers Get Free MLB.TV Subscription For A Year
There’s no hiding the fact that not a lot of people use Google+ as they prefer to stick to Facebook and Twitter instead. While there have been many rumors of the impending demise of Google’s social network it’s still around. Google has now removed a feature the social network that has been a part of it for a few years. The Google+ location sharing feature is no longer available to users.
Read full post →Google+ Location Sharing Feature Disabled


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Apple has already patched the potentially devastating Krack Wi-Fi attack in beta versions of iOS, watchOS, tvOS and macOS. All of the updated should arrive to the public soon.
The news was confirmed to iMore’s Rene Ritchie earlier today.
The attack is part of the Wi-Fi standard and could be exploited by any device with the protocol. Krack could allow hackers to intercept passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information.
First publicized this morning, researchers said that Linux and Android 6.0 or later could be most affected but anyone using Wi-Fi should be concerned.


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Cryptocurrency as a whole has been growing considerably over the years since its inception, and today it is used to pay for a multitude of things. Even in the betting world, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, and other digital currencies have found themselves becoming more acceptable as a payment method for such. You don’t really need to look far to locate a platform that supports cryptocurrency payments from its users.
And as it happens, you can locate some of these sites at online review platforms as well. You need only browse through https://betenemy.com/en/ for example, and you’ll be able to locate a sportsbook which allows you to transact in your favoured digital currency.
That site is also very handy to use when it comes to locating a recommended online bookmaker as well, because expert reviewers have analysed all parts of the sportsbooks and given honest, unbiased opinions about such.
Bitcoin and its other cryptocurrency buddies provides bettors with a safe and swift payment method to make use of, and it has taken quite the hold with US gamblers, who are blocked in a number of ways when it comes to funding online betting accounts.
Cryptocurrencies aren’t attached to any central financial institution, so this doesn’t affect them in the same way. Therefore, many people have opted to use such digital currencies, which have also been noted as safer than many standard fiat transactions, providing quicker deposits and withdrawals and being free of charge to use.
Players Want Payment in Cryptocurrency, Too
And while sportsbooks are affording their bettors the opportunity to transact in these digital currencies, it seems as though sports stars are also intent on taking advantage of them, too. As sports betting shops and online sites re-open their services to the public, various stars have spoken out about how they could also be paid in the digital currency.
It was Russell Okung of the Carolina Panthers who first spoke out about receiving his salary in Bitcoin – an announcement he made on Twitter with a simple Tweet. The offensive tackle suggested that he would be fine to receive his payment in Bitcoin.
And it’s not only the NFL that has had players state that they would like to have the cryptocurrency feature a lot more in their league, as several stars from the NBA have also made the same statement.
In 2014, the Sacramento Kings became the first American sports team to accept Bitcoin transactions for both ticket and merchandise purchases, while the Dallas Mavericks followed suit in August of 2019. It remains to be seen whether any sports teams will allow their players to receive their payments in cryptocurrency, as this is something yet to occur anywhere across the United States.
As it happens though, NFL quarterback Matt Barkley, who currently plays for the Buffalo Bills, was revealed to have requested two of his former teams to pay him in Bitcoin.
According to entrepreneur and investor Anthony Pompliano, Barkley had asked the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals to pay each of his contracts with them in Bitcoin. However, neither team allowed that to happen. Barkley himself would later go on to reveal that he already mines his own Bitcoin, too.


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Today the Province announced the following in their Covid-19 Bulletin #229:
New COVID-19 public health orders will be issued for the Northern health region and Churchill by the chief provincial public health officer. The orders will come into effect Monday, Oct. 26 and remain in effect for a minimum of two weeks.
The restrictions will be the same as those currently in place in the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region. This includes:
- reducing gathering sizes;
- closing of casinos, bingo halls and entertainment facilities with a license under the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act that requires the licensee to present live entertainment must close to members of the public, with the exception of providing food for take-out or delivery;
- limiting the occupancy of other licensed businesses, retail businesses and restaurants of 50 per cent of their usual capacity;
- limiting the occupancy of personal service businesses of 50 per cent of their usual occupancy or one person for each 10 square metres of the premises that is open to the public, whichever is less; and
- requiring a restaurant or licensed premises, theatre, museum, gallery, library, personal service business, concert hall, or fitness facility to keep contact information for members of the public attending their premises and maintain those records for 21 days to support contract tracing.
To read the full bulletin, please visit https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=49453&posted=2020-10-22


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Nike recently confirmed they have partnered with Colin Kaepnernick. Naturally the announcement has received its’ share of both positive and negative feedback.
On Tuesday the NFL formally responded to the apparel giant’s new “Just Do It” advertising starring the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback. “The National Football League believes in dialogue, understanding and unity. We embrace the role and responsibility of everyone involved with this game to promote meaningful, positive change in our communities,” wrote Jocelyn Moore, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications and public affairs. “The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.”
The league’s timely response is interesting as last week an arbitrator denied their request to dismiss Colin’s complaint. He alleges that the organization and their teams purposely did not contract him for protesting during the national anthem in 2016.
As a staunch critic of player protests Donald Trump made it clear he is not a fan of Nike aligning with athlete activist. “I think it’s a terrible message that they’re sending, and the purpose of them doing it, maybe there’s a reason for them doing it, but I think as far as sending a message, I think it’s a terrible message and a message that shouldn’t be sent. There’s no reason for it” he explained.
In typical POTUS fashion he found a way to link his response back to his business acumen. “Nike is a tenant of mine. They pay a lot of rent” referring to his Trump Tower building located in midtown Manhattan.
Kaepernick’s original rationale for not standing, a stance against the several deaths of African Americans by the hands of police, has somehow gotten lost in the sauce causing conservatives to falsely believe he is anti American. Since the endorsement was made public, many have taken to social media to post photos of them burning their Nike clothing.
Nike’s inclusion of Colin Kaepnernick marks the 30th anniversary of their signature “Just Do It” slogan. Serena Williams and Odell Beckham Jr. are also included in the relaunch.
Via The Grio
Bae & Baddies: Nyla Green Has The Curls & Curves That Will Definitely Turn Heads
In The Mix: 10 Biracial Rappers Who May Surprise You [PHOTOS]
DJ Mister Cee Has Passed Away At 57
Thot Girl Dumber: Struggle Slide Piece Celina Powell Allegedly Leaks Snoop Dogg Sex Tape
10 Of The Most Suspect Pictures Of Sean “Diddy” Combs Ever Taken [PHOTOS]
Baes & Baddies: Myah Jane & Her Bubbly Personality Will Have You Hooked At First Sight
14 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Asian
Megan Thee Stallion Bares All Literally & Figuratively For Women's Health's "Body Issue"


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A growing number of Windows laptops feature fingerprint sensors with support for Microsoft’s Windows Hello technology. The idea is to let users login quickly by tapping a finger against the sensor rather than typing in a password or PIN.
But security researchers at Blackwing Intelligence have found “multiple vulnerabilities” in the implementation of these fingerprint sensors that allow them to login without the correct fingerprint.
Not only is Microsoft aware of the vulnerabilities – the company actually asked Blackwing to try to find vulnerabilities in “the top three fingerprint sensors embedded in laptops and used for Windows Hello fingerprint authentication,” including sensors from Goodix, Synaptic, and ELAN.
To do that, the team targeted a Dell Inspiron 15, Lenovo ThinkPad T14, and Microsoft Surface Pro Type Cover with Fingerprint ID… and was able to bypass Windows Hello authentication on all three.
You can write a detailed process of how they searched for, found, and exploited security vulnerabilities in a blog post or by watching a video of Blackwing’s presentation at the Microsoft’s BlueHat security conference in October.
In a nutshell though, the hacks tended to involve convincing the fingerprint sensor that a different fingerprint than the one enabled by the Windows Hello user was legitimate.
To do that, the security researches took steps like disconnecting a fingerprint sensor from a Windows laptop, connecting it to a Raspberry Pi 4 computer running Linux and then running some MitM (Man in the Middle) code that identified valid fingerprints in the Windows database and allowed a user to enroll a new fingerprint into that database.
After that’s complete, the attacker can login using their own fingerprint, and Windows will think it’s the legitimate user.
While it took the team three months to discover and exploit these vulnerabilities, they report that they now have “three 100% reliable bypasses of Windows Hello authentication.”
Why was it so (relatively) easy? First, while Windows Hello is designed to make use of a Secure Device Connection Protocol (SDCP) that Blackwing researchers is pretty good at providing “a secure channel between the host and biometric devices,” two out of the three devices they targeted didn’t even have SDCP enabled. And SDCP only covers part of the attack surface, meaning that even on devices that do have it enabled, there are plenty of other places to look for vulnerabilities.
Blackwire’s recommendations? All companies that produce Window Hello-compatible fingerprint sensors should turn on SDCP… and hire security researchers to look for other vulnerabilities that should be patched.
It’s unclear whether the vulnerabilities that were discovered will be patched anytime soon, so if you’re concerned about security, you might want to consider switching to a PIN or unique password. If you’re more concerned with convenience, then I suppose you can just hope that nobody with the know-how and motivation gets their hands on your laptop anytime soon.
via The Verge


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The drink pure campaign, which the water brand has designed to contrast with the year’s gloomiest, darkest and often busiest month, has been inspired by Evian’s new pure drop bottle and Alpine origin.
Evian said the tunnel wrap, which the brand worked with agencies Havas and MEC on, has been designed to bring a moment of purity to commuters’ daily journey, and forms part of a wider outdoor campaign.
Sarah Dossett, Evian UK marketing manager, said: "This campaign is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate purity. It not only reflects the consumer desire, particularly in January, to have a moment of purity in our hectic lives, but is also routed in Evian’s product truth."
A digital element to the campaign will allow online fans to use Evian’s ‘pure me’ website to identify the purest description of themselves. The site will scan the user’s Twitter feed and, based on its content, will produce a single word which describes the essence of that person.
Each word has been carved into a sheet of ice, digitally captured, and will be presented to the individual once the app has completed its search.
The campaign is also being supported by the launch of a new fashion collaboration inspired by Evian’s purity. One hundred and fifty fashionistas will be able to purchase a limited-edition t-shirt created by 2014 GQ breakthrough designers Agi and Sam.
The garment uses heat embossing rather than traditional stitching or inks, and has been manufactured in the UK using unbleached Sea Island cotton.
Comment below to let us know what you think.
For more in-depth and print-only features, showcases and interviews with world-leading brands, don't miss the next issue of Event magazine by subscribing here.Follow @samedwardsevent


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September 17, 2019
News Kurt Gaber founded Little Gaber Signs in 1978 and today the company—Gaber Signs—is a full-service shop that also does wraps and logo design.
September 9, 2019
News The annual open house will feature live demos all day and plenty of opportunities for attendees to win door prizes and visit directly with manufacturers' reps.
August 29, 2019
News Wensco says more than 40 manufacturers' representatives will be on hand to display products and answer questions.
December 26, 2018
News Tensioning Solutions makes aluminum extruders used for framing both indoor and outdoor banner frames of all sizes.
August 7, 2018
News All three men are industry veterans, and two of them are in their second stint with the company.
May 11, 2018
News This particular webinar is specifically geared toward those shops that produce custom vehicle graphics.
March 16, 2018
News It didn't start out this way 25 years ago, but now wraps make up the majority of PSD Ink's revenue.
December 1, 2017
News Lettering Express of Oklahoma City is celebrating its 30th year in business in 2018.
October 17, 2016
News The company has grown dramatically since first being founded along the Gulf Coast in 1991.


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Spacee HoverTouch technology. [Video still: Spacee]
Customers walking into Audi Dallas are finding touchscreen-like experiences right on Audi car models—without a touchscreen in sight. The new "interactive experience solution" is called HoverTouch, from Addison-based tech startup Spacee. The solution gives customers information while delivering useful data back to the retailer.
"We're still early in the process, but already seeing double-digit in-store sales increases for the products we’re promoting with HoverTouch," says Audi Dallas' auto group CEO.


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Published on the 12/02/2021 | Written by Heather Wright
Voiceover actors and radio jocks need not apply…
We’ve seen a proliferation of ‘digital humans’ over the last two years, now here come the – eerily human – ‘synthetic voices for your brand’.
Microsoft moved Custom Neural Voice, an Azure Cognitive Services offering which lets developers create the synthetic voices with neural text-to-speech technology to general availability this month. That general availability is however, on an approval only basis so you’ll need to talk nicely to Microsoft in order to get access to the service.
“This new technology allows companies to spend a tenth of the effort traditionally needed to prepare training data,” says Microsoft.
Traditional text to speech (TTS) requires reams of voice data – in the range of 10,000 lines or more according to Microsoft – to produce a fluent voice model. TTS models with fewer recorded lines tend to sound noticeably robotic.
“This new technology allows companies to spend a tenth of the effort traditionally needed to prepare training data.”
Neural TTS, harnessed by Custom Neural Voice, changes things, learning’ the way phonetics are combined in natural human speech rather than using classical programming or statistical methods.
The result is highly-realistic voices with just a small number of training audios. (you can listen to the examples here.)
It says companies can use the technology for customer service chatbots, voice assistants in appliances, cars and homes, online learning, audio books, assistive technology and real-time translations and public service announcements.
But the offering comes with a warning about the potential for abuse – hence the reason for the limited access ‘general availability’ requiring companies to submit an ‘intake form’ before accessing the service.
“We are designing and releasing Custom Neural Voice with the intention of protecting the rights of individuals and society, fostering transparent human-computer interaction, and counteract the proliferation of harmful deepfakes and misleading content,” Microsoft says.
It’s even served up a Code of Conduct, including prohibited use cases for custom neural voice, including that “This service must not be used to simulate the voice of politicians or government officials, even with their consent.”
Also included is a requirement that voice actors used by companies understand the technology and that the customer is having a voice model created, based on their voice.
Custom Neural Voice consists of three components: Text Analyzer, Neural Acoustic Model and Neural Vocoder. Text is inputted into the analyser, converted into a phoneme (the basic unit of sound) sequence, pumped through the model to predict acoustic features such as speaking style, speed and intonations, and then converted into audible speech.
The offering has been in preview since September 2019 and Microsoft says it’s been used by the likes of AT&T, Duolingo, US insurance company Progressive and Swisscom.
AT&T used Customer Neural Voice to create a Bugs Bunny soundalike at its AT&T Experience Store in Dallas, where customers can interact with Bugs.
Microsoft isn’t alone in the synthetic speech field. Back in 2019 Google debuted its AI-synthesised WaveNet voices. In December 2020 it launched an initiative converting ebooks to audiobooks for publishers, using a combination of text-to-speech and WaveNet voices.
Amazon meanwhile has BrandVoice, which allows customers to engage the Amazon Polly team to build neural text to speech voices representing the customer’s brand persona.


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Highlights from Facebook’s Q3 report
Marketing Land contributor Robin Kurzer has highlighted three distinct points from Facebook’s quarter 3 earnings report.
Kurzer says, “In addition reporting lower-than-expected revenue growth in the third-quarter, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was uncharacteristically blunt about many of the challenges facing the company. It was an effort to set Wall Street expectations, but there are takeaways for marketers, too.
Here are some of the highlights:
Usage is up … in emerging markets. Facebook’s reach in North America and Europe has essentially hit a saturation point. The question has been what daily active users (DAUs) would look like in the wake of a steady stream of negative headlines about social media generally and Facebook specifically. A Pew study in September found a marked decline in user engagement on Facebook.
Facebook reported DAU growth in its least profitable markets — those outside the U.S. and Canada and Europe. Daily usage in Europe has dropped slightly for the second consecutive quarter”.
Comments are closed.


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FDA Consumer Health Information - Stolen Inhalers Pose Risk
SILVER SPRING, Md., July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The public should be on the lookout for stolen inhalers after some were found in a number of pharmacies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the safety and effectiveness of the stolen Advair Diskus inhalers cannot be assured, so consumers should not use them.
The inhalers—used in the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—were stolen from a GlaxoSmithKline warehouse in August 2009.
Read more about the stolen inhalers, and how you can identify them at


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THE past few years have brought huge growth in the casual gaming space, with smartphone and tablet owners joining the greater gaming collective. But hard-core gaming has gradually plateaued, as it does every time the current versions of home consoles near the end of their life cycles. The consoles typically reach a price point where every prospective buyer can afford one, and sales eventually drop off.
This current, seventh generation of consoles has enjoyed the longest period between major updates in technology, as the manufacturers introduce features and add-ons that extend the hardware's lifespan.
Fortunately, 2013 is shaping as a cracker for gamers, with a strong line-up of titles poised for release, a new adult classification for games, and high expectations of new home consoles launching later in the year.
A handful of successful video game franchises have fresh instalments scheduled for release in the coming months, including God of War, Crysis, Army of Two, Dead Space, Metal Gear and Resident Evil, with the highlights being the return of a new-look Lara Croft in the revival of the Tomb Raider series, plus the deadly Big Daddy returning in BioShock Infinite, and possibly one of this year's most eagerly awaited games, Grand Theft Auto V, from the gaming series that has sparked controversy in the past for its sexually explicit and violent gameplay.
The content of previous Grand Theft Auto games was so risque, a specially edited version was produced for the game to be released in Australia under the MA15+ rating, which at the time was the most restrictive of game classifications.
The next instalment in the series is unlikely to need the same editing because of the recent introduction of an R18+ classification for video games. This came into effect at the start of 2013, following lobbying by Australian video game industry bodies, adult gamers and action groups.
The legislation, which had to be passed by each state's attorney-general, brings video game ratings more in line with the classification system used for feature films, and also means Australia joins most other developed nations, which have had an R18+ classification for video games for many years.
Australia now has five classifications for video games: G, PG, M, MA15+ and R18+. And, as with films rated R18+, video games given this classification may be bought or rented only by consumers aged 18 and older.
Where the MA15+ was previously the highest rating for video games, and allowed content to have a strong impact, the R18+ classification now permits games to have high-impact content.
Ron Curry, from the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, which has supported the push for the classification for more than a decade, says the change is a key step in harmonising Australia's classification scheme and gives consumers better tools to manage and understand content in a rapidly changing environment.
''The classification guidelines for video games are now more closely aligned with the guidelines for film and TV, which makes it easier for parents to make informed decisions about the interactive content they choose to buy and play,'' Curry says.
According to a national survey last year, which has been conducted twice yearly since 2005 by Bond University, the average age of gamers in Australia is 32, up from 30 in 2008. The survey found that 75 per cent of gamers in Australia are aged 18 or over.
Following the introduction of the new classification on January 1, it took just 11 days for Australia's first R18+ video game to be announced by the Classification Board. The game, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, is an action adventure for Nintendo's Wii U game console.
The director of the Classification Board, Lesley O'Brien, cited the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games in assigning the first R18+ classification.
''Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge contains violence that is high in impact because of its frequency, high-definition graphics, and emphasis on blood effects,'' O'Brien says.
Regardless of age, most gamers will be keeping their eyes open for the next generation of home games consoles from Sony and Microsoft this year.
Nintendo has a head start on its console competitors: the company launched its latest home console, the Wii U, in time for Christmas 2012.
This innovative hybrid tablet/console bundle has sold moderately well, although the Kyoto-based firm has recently lowered its forecast for sales of both the console and
software titles, because of lower-than-expected trade over the Christmas period.
Sony and Microsoft have remained tight-lipped about their new consoles; both have codenames. Sony's successor to the current PlayStation 3 is referred to as Orbis, and Microsoft's successor to the Xbox 360 is codenamed Durango. Apart from titbits of leaked information, nothing has been officially announced by either company about their coming consoles.
The world's biggest video game trade show, E3, held in Los Angeles each June, is usually the centre stage for console makers to unveil their next big things. But Sony held a PlayStation-focused press event in New York on February 20. The invitations teased that attendees would ''see the future'', fuelling speculation the company would unveil its next console.
This news, along with similar information from Microsoft about its next console, is sure to stir excitement in coming months as gamers start saving for the new games on the way and the consoles later this year.
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Northwest Economic Empowerment Business Summit Jan. 19
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 11 – State Rep. Isabella Fitzgerald will be joined by Reps. Stephen Kinsey and Chris Rabb, Sen. Art Haywood and Councilwoman Cherelle Parker to co-host an annual summit to help current and future business owners succeed and prosper.
The 2nd Annual Northwest Economic Empowerment Business Summit, organized by Fitzgerald, will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19 at Masjidullah, the Center for Human Excellence, 7433 Limekiln Pike, 19138. The theme of this year’s summit is “Continuing the Journey.”
Those attending the summit can take part in a variety of workshops and hear from expert panelists about starting a business or making an existing business thrive.
“Business owners are a vital part of our community,” Fitzgerald said. “We want to provide constituents with the opportunities and resources to assist them, whether it’s starting their own business venture or growing their existing business.”
Fitzgerald said there will be door prizes and continental breakfast and lunch will be served. Congressman Dwight Evans will be the keynote speaker.
Representatives and their staff also will be available to answer questions and provide information on state government-related services.
For more information and to RSVP, please call Fitzgerald’s office at 215-549-0220 or by email at email@example.com.


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On October 30th, according to foreign media reports, the social network giant Facebook has changed its name to Meta. The company apparently wants to get rid of what employees call the “brand tax” and reduce the impact of Facebook’s name on applications such as Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. Negative impact. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Mark Zuckerberg) announced the decision to change the name. A large number of internal documents disclosed in the previous seven weeks showed that Facebook knew the harm caused by its products and refused to solve these problems.
But the “brand tax” can be traced back to the 2016 US presidential election, when Facebook became a safe haven for hateful content and misinformation.
According to people familiar with the matter, Facebook’s other services, especially Instagram and Messenger, have been struggling to distance themselves from the persistent embarrassing problems that have plagued the parent company over the past five years.
However, brand separation became particularly difficult in 2019, when Facebook announced that it would add a Facebook tag to the end of the names of all its services. Messenger became Messenger from Facebook, and other applications were called Instagram from Facebook, WhatsApp from Facebook.
Facebook said at the time that the purpose of the name change was to provide users with clear information. The same is true for Oculus, Facebook’s virtual reality (VR) division, and the business software that provides Workplace, which have also been tagged with the “from Facebook” tag.
Facebook stated in a press release on November 4, 2019: “The name change is a better way to communicate our ownership structure to the people and companies that use our services. These people and companies use our services to connect, Share, build communities and expand their audience.”
But privately, Facebook has not expressed concern about consumer confusion. On the contrary, several former employees of the company said that after experiencing a series of public relations setbacks, especially after the data abuse scandal of Cambridge Analytica in 2018, the company is trying to restore its brand influence.
At that time, Facebook’s application of the same name was in a low state. According to former employees, Zuckerberg decided to consolidate the brand image because he thought it might be helpful to link Facebook with the company’s less polluted services.
People familiar with the matter said that many employees advised Zuckerberg to follow Google’s approach instead of attaching the Facebook logo to everything. Google reorganized and created its parent company Alphabet in 2015.
Zuckerberg’s decision to switch to Facebook was not driven by data. On the contrary, a former executive said that the research presented to him showed that linking any of the company’s products to Facebook would lead to a decline in trust.
Another employee said that this can be seen from the 2018 Facebook research on the release of the video call device Portal. Data shows that adding Facebook’s name will reduce public trust. But in any case, the company ended up using the name Facebook Portal.
When asked to comment on this, a Meta spokesperson reiterated the content of the company’s chief marketing officer Alex Schultz’s post.
Schultz wrote: “In 2019, we launched a new brand that linked all our products, but still retained the name of the company and our original application Facebook. But over time, it became clear that sharing The name Facebook can cause confusion. It will not only confuse people who use products such as WhatsApp or Instagram, but also confuse our supporters. The important reason for us to change our name is to help people clearly understand the relationship between the company and the Facebook application. The difference between them.”
Instagram hurts the most
Instagram has been hit particularly hard by the 2019 name change. This photo app is mainly used by teenagers and young people, who have always had a negative view of Facebook for a long time. The “big blue app” called Facebook is seen as a place for parents and eccentric uncles to share stories and comment on relatives’ posts.
Instagram marketing staff began to see through the quarterly brand tracking results that the new brand was causing harm. Former employees of Instagram said they tried to make the “From Facebook” font smaller, not use it at all, or change the color to obscure Facebook’s name. According to a former employee, these suggestions were eventually rejected.
A former executive recalled that Zuckerberg insisted that since the acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, Facebook has helped Instagram achieve amazing success, and now it’s time for Instagram to give back. The ultimate measure of Instagram marketers will be how well they bundle the brand. This was ordered by Zuckerberg himself, and there is no room for negotiation.
In contrast, according to multiple employees, Messenger received permission to “create a sense of separation.” Unlike the acquired companies such as Instagram, Oculus and WhatsApp, Messenger is a direct line of Facebook. Facebook turned it into a standalone application in 2014. Two former employees said that in order to attract young users, Messenger was “blessed” a year ago and could take measures on its own to improve its brand image.
Messenger launched a new logo last year with gradient colors, mainly purple, similar to the Instagram logo. This is part of the messenger team’s efforts to locate this app for “millennials” and “Gen Z” users, who use TikTok and other services more.
Delete Facebook name
After changing its name to Meta, the company cannot guarantee that the impact of Facebook’s “brand tax” will dissipate immediately. But Zuckerberg changed his approach at least, less than two years after he added the “from Facebook” tag to all the company’s major services.
The company has already begun to rename several of its departments. Among them, the hardware department was previously called Facebook Reality Labs, and will now be called Reality Labs. The payment unit called F2 or Facebook Financial will now be renamed Novi, which is the name of the company’s cryptocurrency wallet product.
After the leaker and former employee Frances Haugen (Frances Haugen) leaked a large number of internal documents, and other media published many reports, Zuckerberg still seems to be arrogant. For example, the company knows that Instagram is harmful to the mental health of teenagers, but has done little to do so.
Zuckerberg said after the company’s quarterly earnings report earlier this week: “My view is that what we see is a coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a false picture of our company.”
Data in some of the disclosed documents show that since 2019, the number of teenage users of the Facebook application in the United States has fallen by 13%, and is expected to fall by 45% in the next two years. Facebook researchers also found that the company does not expect people born after 2000 to join its social network before the age of 24 or 25, especially if they have used its services.
Facebook mentioned this issue in its latest earnings report. The company said it will start turning to Instagram and Facebook and launch more videos from Reels products in an effort to attract young users. Zuckerberg said the company will work hard to make all its services appeal to young people, but he acknowledged that “this transition will take several years.” However, getting rid of the Facebook brand will be its first big step. (Little)


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The Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and SME Development, in cooperation with social media expert and trainer, Ammar Mohammed, organized a two-day course last week on how to market yourself on social media websites. The event took place on April 14th and 16th at Katara, the cultural village.
Aiming to offer entrepreneurs and businesses a deeper understanding of how to promote themselves on key social media websites, the Bedaya Center course also presented a comprehensive strategy of how to make an effective online imprint by identifying business goals and planning a campaign accordingly to leverage social media websites. The course featured the steps needed with excellent ideas thrown in, to guide attendees through the process of effectively publicizing themselves online by disseminating their ideas and spreading their influence.
Ammar Mohammed tackled the basic principles that could help businesses market themselves, and the best ways to identify the most suitable social media websites to do this. Mohammed also addressed a number of key issues such as the necessity of marketing oneself online in today‘s world, how to handle people with differing points of view and how to gauge the extent of one’s influence on social media websites. Crucially, Mohammed also pointed out how to raise the number of one’s followers and the importance of developing a 30-day plan for online self-marketing.
Trainer Ammar Mohammed mentioned that it was the second time the course was held in Qatar to walk business people through the process of promoting themselves via the most popular social websites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. “The special thing about the course was the 3-month action plan aiming to monitor people’s interaction, the level of their influence, and the nature of the content they provide via social media,” added Mohammed, who also explained that the course was held over two nonconsecutive days so attendees could assess how they were interacting with their followers. Significantly, the influence of some trainees grew within 48 hours of the first lecture, and their followers also increased on Twitter and Instagram.
Mohammed commended those on the course for their active participation. Attendees, who were mostly businessmen and entrepreneurs, made sure they maximized the benefits of the techniques they were shown to market themselves – and their enterprises – by effectively expanding their influence online, leading to a boost in their sales and income.
Describing the strategic partnership with Bedaya as “special”, Ammar Mohammed said he was glad to cooperate with the Center, knowing what social media currently represents and how influential it can be for entrepreneurs and the owners of pioneering projects. This partnership reinforces what Bedaya has already been doing to help young people realize their career and entrepreneurial ambitions by developing the set of skills and abilities they need, as well as setting goals and developing business plans.
“Thanks to the social media course, we have been able to identify, understand and apply the basic principles associated with online marketing and have learnt self-marketing skills which will positively affect our businesses. Now I can develop a marketing plan and know ways of displaying content precisely when it will attract the best levels of interaction by the public. Undoubtedly, carrying on with uninterrupted self-marketing enhances our influence, helping to increase sales and income. We were also able to familiarize ourselves with ways of embracing the market’s new ideas and how to use them. Ultimately the course made us realize the importance of communicating online with the public which can only enrich our entrepreneurial work,” said one of the female trainees.


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UK-based Fintech firm Monavate says it’s focused on rapidly expanding its operations after securing £5 million through a seed funding round.
Cambridge-based Monavate offers a “new-to-market” payment solution. The company confirmed in a release that it has managed to acquire funding from a “major” US institutional investor.
Monavate offers a “technology-enabled, compliance and card scheme sponsorship platform, that simplifies the way companies create, manage and grow financial products.”
As mentioned in a blog post by Monavate, the funds raised will be used to support investment in the firm’s “expertise and pioneering technology platform, allowing companies to launch financial products quickly, easily and cost-effectively.” The funds should also enable the Fintech company to “accelerate its global expansion in the card issuing and ATM space.”
Leeandrajae Vaile, CEO at Monavate, stated:
“There’s no shortage of great ideas to help consumers and businesses spend, save and invest smarter. And no shortage of investment in fintech either. However, getting great ideas to market is still a major pain point. That’s why Monavate was formed, and why we’re already making a difference.”
Scott Lucas, Chief Commercial Officer at Monavate, noted that “bringing good financial ideas to life can be complex and time-consuming, not to mention manual and expensive.”
“This is tough for startups, who suffer more under the weight of red tape and other people’s legacy. Yet even for more established firms, the status quo is unscalable. At Monavate, we’re combining expert guidance and fit-for-purpose technology to help clients launch real financial solutions fast.”
Monavate is reportedly a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-regulated e-money institution and “direct member” of Mastercard and Visa, “offering BIN sponsorship for issuing and ATM acquiring programs.”
The release also mentioned:
“The expansion will build on Monavate’s rapid success to date. Since November 2020, Monavate has signed a number of fast-moving clients, including Hyperjar, Kasssh, Pin4 and Zilch, with many more exciting projects in the pipeline. Monavate was supported on this transaction by the corporate practice of law firm Shakespeare Martineau.”


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It’s not every day that a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court could have a direct and potentially costly impact on Australian businesses making sales to U.S. customers.
Australian businesses accustomed to dealing with income tax and GST being charged only at a Federal level may be caught by surprise as they expand into the U.S. and have to deal with the states charging both income tax and sales taxes that are far from uniform across the various states. This may create significant complexity and compliance burdens for growing businesses.
U.S. state sales taxes have just become a more complex puzzle.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v Wayfair Inc overturned old law made in the days of mail order catalogues that used to require that an out-of-state seller have a physical presence or physical connection with a state before the seller would be obliged to charge, collect and remit states sales taxes for sales made to customers within the particular state’s territory.
The Supreme Court has considered state sales taxes in a modern digital economy and found that the physical presence test does not reflect economic reality and is no longer appropriate. The new test is based upon an economic nexus which can arise through a threshold number of transactions or revenue hurdle for sales in a particular state.
As a result, states in the U.S. will now seek to impose and enforce sales tax laws that apply to on-line and direct sellers making sales to U.S. customers. Most states are currently considering how they can effectively and efficiently protect their tax base and enforce sales taxes.
Sales tax obligations could now apply to taxable retail sales of goods or services through on-line platforms, even if the Australian seller has no U.S. physical presence. While most states are expected to impose a taxable threshold based on the annual number of transactions or state based turnover, these tests are not expected to be consistent across the states. As the states work out how far they will cast their sales tax net based on the court decision, understanding these thresholds will be key to understanding the cost of doing business in a particular state.
Foreign businesses selling directly into the U.S. will need to take professional advice, look out for compliance guidance issued by the various states, and consider the potential state sales tax liability for their sales of products or services. For product sales it will be important to have confidence in the “ship-to” documentation for U.S. customers for compliance purposes.
The decision opens the door to unleash a complex web of inconsistent state tax obligations on Australian sellers, depending on which of the U.S. states they make sales to. It is also possible that over time some states will have a deeper look at the decision in South Dakota v Wayfair Inc and try to expand the reach of their state income tax laws – making things more interesting.
Doing business in the U.S. just became a lot more complex and potentially more costly for direct sellers to the U.S. Seek advice.


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February 06, 2015
With over 70,000 followers of his own, Heacock launched a successful business using the app.
Fans of the social media application Vine no doubt know of the Unpopular Now Vine account. According to Technical.ly Philly, it all started with an exclusive "Vine famous" invite-only Facebook group, where those "famous" on the site could connect with one another. That group formed the Unpopular Now Vine account — where popular Vine producers could share their content.
When Twitter purchased Vine in 2012, the company asked those involved with the Unpopular Now Vine account if they were interested in creating paid advertisements.
“They were like, ‘OK, are you an LLC?’ And I was like, ‘I’ll be one in three days,'” Heacock said. “‘Do you have insurance?’ ‘I’ll get some.'”
Thus, the mobile marketing company Unpopular Now was founded. Heacock was a freelance videographer and waiter at Oyster House — but he quit waiting tables in June to pursue his new company. Unpopular Now is actually a two-person operation — with just Heacock and Gretchen Lohse, a Philly musician. His company has an impressive list of clients — ranging from Best Buy to Red Bull to Target.
Creators of paid advertisements at his company include popular Viners Marlo Meekins, Kingdaddy, Klarity, Batdad and David Lopez.
Click here to read the full story.


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Pasta lovers, get your forks ready! Olive Garden's never-ending pasta passes are back.
The restaurant chain is giving 1,000 people the chance to buy an annual pasta pass for $300.
The pass includes 52 weeks of unlimited servings of guests' favorite pasta, homemade sauces, and toppings, accompanied by unlimited soup or salad and breadsticks.
For $100, the passes provide eight weeks of access to unlimited pasta, homemade sauces, pasta toppings, soup or salad and breadsticks for the duration of the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion Sept. 24 through Nov. 18.
There will be 23,000 of those passes up for grabs.
The passes will be sold for 30 minutes online at Olive Garden's website beginning Thursday, Aug. 23 at 2 p.m. ET.
Note: The video above is of a related pasta story


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Matteo Gentili assumes the role of President, alongside four Vice Presidents: Marco Dell’Osso, Communication, Massimo Franzaroli, Legal and Finance, Alessandro Mennucci, Sponsorship/Local Relations and Stefano Di Santo, Event Organization & Logistics. In addition, senior representatives from all 12 participating companies will take part in working groups to cover every aspect of It’s Tissue’s promotion and management.
The project manager has been named as Maddalena Marcone.
The next It’s Tissue will take place June 21-28, 2015 in Lucca, Bologna’s “packaging valley”, Reggio Emilia and Lecco. The network comprises: A Celli, Elettric 80, Fabio Perini, Futura, Gambini, MTC, Omet, PCMC, Pulsar, Recard, TMC and Toscotec.
It’s Tissue is conceived to give customers the benefit of a week’s worth of open houses and additional events in an extraordinary show of productive cooperation between the participating companies.
With even more resources dedicated to project management, logistics and cooperation between the participating companies, It’s Tissue 2015 promises to be an unprecedented technology experience.